Monday, April 25, 2016

Wealth causes terrorism?

Moadim l'Simcha, a Happy Holiday to all of you.

The 19-year old terrorist who blew up a Jerusalem bus last Monday did not come from an impoverished home. In fact, he lived a life of privilege, much like the Saudi 9/11 terrorists. And that worries the Israeli authorities.

His uncles are prosperous merchants. He did not grow up in a refugee camp. He went on shopping trips to Jordan.

But the cover photo on his Facebook page
includes the image of Yahya Ayyash, a.k.a. “The Engineer,” the chief
bombmaker for Hamas, who likely was killed by an exploding mobile phone
planted by Israeli agents in 1996.

On Monday afternoon, 19-year-old Abdel Hamid
Abu Srour boarded the Egged No. 12 bus and placed a package between his
legs. His uncles think that it might have been his first visit to
Jerusalem.

His seat was above the vehicle’s gas tanks,
according to Israeli news media. His relatives scoffed at the idea that
Abu Scour would know how to make a bomb himself.

His high school grades were poor enough that he wanted to retake subjects and redo his exams.

Who gave him the bomb and how it was detonated is the object of a fast-moving investigation.

Hamas claimed that Abu Srour was a member of
the Islamist militant movement, although the Gaza-based terrorist group
did not assert direct responsibility for the bombing.

Israeli police announced Thursday that they had arrested several members of a Hamas cell in Bethlehem tied to the case.

The 'Palestinian Authority' tried to portray Abu Srour as a poor 'refugee.' But that's yet another lie.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health described
Abu Srour as a resident of the Aida refugee camp, a tough, politicized
neighbourhood of tight, twisting alleys where the walls are painted with
murals of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and covered with
the faded posters of dead teenagers hailed as martyrs, killed either
attacking Israelis or in clashes with Israeli troops.

But his relatives said Abu Srour was more of a
Palestinian preppy, the scion of a well-to-do and well-known clan of
eight prosperous brothers, who own and operate a string of furniture
outlets and are rich enough to take their young sons for holidays in
Jordan and to set them up with their own shops selling clothes.

“We are financially comfortable, you could say
very comfortable,” said his uncle Mahmoud Abu Srour, who was gathered
with relatives in a courtyard at a family house in Bethlehem awaiting
the return of his nephew’s body so they could bury him.

Abu Srour’s father declined to speak on the
record. He was exhausted, he said. His family said his DNA was used to
identify his son. He said the body was unrecognizable to him.

Earlier in the day, the father denied in an
interview with Reuters that his son had any connection to Hamas, which
had announced Wednesday that Abu Scour was the bomber and that he was an
affiliate of the group.

“I never thought my son would do such an act,”
the father said. “My son did not make me feel, even for 1 per cent,
that he has feelings or thoughts like that. Never.”

But Abu Srour apparently WAS connected to Hamas and his family didn't totally discourage terrorism. It just tried to keep their children safe.

But on his Facebook page, there is a photo Abu Srour with a Hamas flag.
Israeli news media also reported that before he died, Abu Srour had
given his mother a photograph of himself wearing a Hamas scarf. The
Jerusalem Post reported that Abu Srour’s relatives gave out sweets on
the street to celebrate his martyrdom in the bomb blast.

And of course, the family is blaming the victim - Israel.

As if we're the ones who are ambivalent or worse about our children's involvement in terrorism....

1 Comments:

If the poor demented innocents' families were to be sued and ALL their property expropriated to pay the damages of the victims and hospital bills - then maybe just maybe there would not be sweets handed out.

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About Me

I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com